In April 2015, the RPG Blog Carnival rolls into RPG Alchemy. The topic for this month is: ����The Combat Experience����. Anything related to the combat experience in your roleplaying games is fair game! Exciting combat is an integral part of gaming. Many gaming systems and settings lend themselves very well to dynamic, engaging, and fun combat. I want to hear about your experiences as both a gamemaster and player regarding combat in your roleplaying games!
Nearly every gamer has a fond memory of some crazy thing that happened while their character was battling against the forces of evil. Or, they suffered an incredible setback and maybe even perished due to an unlucky dice roll. Some of us have mechanically mastered combat in a specific system, while other have mastered the art of dynamic story-telling and creating roleplaying sessions that feel like action movies!
– How does combat play out with your gaming group and favorite roleplaying games?
– What tips or tricks do you have for other gamemasters and players on creating a great combat experience?
– What are pitfalls that you����ve fallen into in the past when it comes to combat in gaming?
– Which game systems do you think have the best (and worst) combat systems?
– What was the best combat play experience you����ve ever had in a roleplaying session?
The submission period for this month����s topic runs from April 1st to April 30th. Please leave a comment in this post when you����ve written up an entry on the topic. Multiple entries are allowed (and even encouraged!). Once the month is over, I will gather up all of the submissions in a wrap-up post for everyone to read. Enjoy!
About Samuel Van Der Wall
I think one of the best ways to keep combat exciting is to have a “combat twist” in at least half, if not two thirds ,of your battle encounters. All too often I see a battle is set up with one side versus the other. Then they charge together and clash until a victor. Just beating on each other until one or the other drops. Just adding a little something can really mix these battles up.
Here is a short list of “combat twists” to keep fighting fun.
Reinforcements Arrive/Staggered Enemy Entrance (Turn easy fight into hard fight)
Enemies Flee (Cowardly)
Easily Surrender
Trap in Battlefield (Pit, blades, explosives, acid)
Terrain Changes or Discovery Even small holes, tunnels, or other obstructions can spice it up.
Enemies don’t care about hitting other enemies.
One mean bad guy turning on another. (Gaining station or rank)
Environmental Changes – Storm Begins, Smoke or Fog rolls in
Split the Party – Tree falls, chasm opens, or water washes through area.
This is just a handful of examples that can make even a boring routine fight, tons of fun! This is all encounter type modifications. This doesn’t even touch all the cool things you can do with creature and enemy surprises.
Great point. I think my GM is the master of adding reinforcements!
But yes, definitely not making it a red vs blue beat down fest is key. I was definitely guilty of that with D&D 4e as a GM, as I didn’t want to venture too far outside of their mechanical boundries. Then I realized I needed to loosen things up and make combat harder (or easier) by adding different obstacles, surprises, turning points, etc.
Samuel Van Der Wall recently posted…This Week In Roleplaying – March 27th, 2015
My general goal when putting together a combat encounter is to have no more than 60% of the encounter be about mechanics and at least 40% to be about other elements in order to keep it interesting. These days it’s more like 50/50.
John Lewis recently posted…This Week In Roleplaying – March 27th, 2015
Need posts on combat? Here’s mine at, Worlds of Adventure. You can find the post under “If You Think You Understand Combat. (No link, sorry, you security system insists in throwing a tizzy whenever I toss in a url.) I know not everybody’s going to like it, but I figured it needed to be said. Hope you get more.BTW,
Twitter: samvdw
says:
Thanks for the submission, Alan.
We have three authors on this site writing on the topic this month, so we’ll at least have that! And I know that even for myself, sometimes I wait till the end of the month to participate in these events!
Samuel Van Der Wall recently posted…This Week In Roleplaying ���� April 3rd, 2015
BTW, the upper level domain is “net”, not “com”
Twitter: samvdw
says:
And by the way, I will into the link posting in comments. One of the reasons I have that is because of spam. It’s also partially why I added CommentLuv. But you have pointed out why this is challenging for something like this. It’s a valid point so I’ll see what I can do.
Samuel Van Der Wall recently posted…This Week In Roleplaying ���� April 3rd, 2015
Twitter: dagorym
says:
It’s a bit of a tangent but I’m musing about the role of initiative in combat and comparing and contrasting different systems. You can find my post on the Arcane Game Lore blog (arcanegamelore.com).
Tom Stephens recently posted…April RPG Blog Carnival ���� The Combat Experience ���� Initiative
Twitter: samvdw
says:
Great topic. I replied over at your blog. My general feeling is that I don’t like overly complicated initiative systems. I think initiative should help the flow of combat (or whatever else you’re doing). But if it slows down or complicates the game, that’s too much for my personal tastes.
Samuel Van Der Wall recently posted…Digital Tabletop Tools
Twitter: JamesIntrocaso
says:
Hey Sam, great topic! Here’s my entry for this month. A few tips (some old hat, others a little new) for improving combat in your game to keep things from getting stale.
James Introcaso recently posted…Spice Up Your Combat
Twitter: samvdw
says:
Great addition, thanks James! I expect some pretty awesome and unique combat experiences in May!
Samuel Van Der Wall recently posted…Five Questions With Michtim Game Designer Georg Mir
I’ve got my submission for this month’s blog carnival up, but i suspect I’m going to do a few different posts on this general subject over the next few days.
blackcampbell.com/2015/04/13/rpg-blog-carnival-april-2015-the-combat-experience/
Black Campbell recently posted…RPG Blog Carnival, April 2015: The Combat Experience
Twitter: samvdw
says:
@ Black Campbell – Thanks for the submission. That’s a topic that hasn’t been discussed yet so well done. Looking forward to your other submissions as well! We’ve got a few more coming for the topic too.
Samuel Van Der Wall recently posted…The Combat Experience – Don’t Forget the Environment!
A variation on the theme from a few years ago.
blackcampbell.com/2010/02/18/setting-the-scene-violence/
Black Campbell recently posted…RPG Blog Carnival, April 2015: The Combat Experience
Made my first attempt at an RPG Blog Carnival post, in which I have a bit of a ramble about my pet peeves in handling combat.
Rob recently posted…[Rob’s Rambles] My Combat Peeves
Twitter: samvdw
says:
@ Rob – Nice thoughts. I agree with your ideas on initiative. We try to streamline it as well in most games. As for maps, we use them sometimes and don’t use them other times. We don’t play many tactical games (like 4E) currently though, so it doesn’t seem to be as big of an issues.
Samuel Van Der Wall recently posted…The Combat Experience – Don’t Forget the Environment!
Twitter: HouseRule
says:
Thanks for hosting this month. =)
I’ve posted an article up at Houserule.com about encounter-specific mechanics, my experiences with them, and their role in tabletop RPGs.
I don’t seem to have permissions to post links, but it’s the most recent article on the site.
Thanks,
Jeff
Twitter: samvdw
says:
@ Jeff D – Got it, thanks Jeff! As several have already mentioned, most aren’t able to link in the comments. I’m sure it’s a WordPress thing and I’m working on fixing that. I’ve got your entry of “The Combat Experience – Encounter Mechanics”. Thanks so much!
Samuel Van Der Wall recently posted…Hard Moves & GM Intrusions 1
Twitter: johnnfour
says:
Have you tried running combats without the grid? Especially for quick fights and mook fights that don’t need all the detail and game time?
Here’s my entry for the RPG Blog Carnival.
Switching From the Grid: Mapless Combat
Taking a look at mass combat for RPGs here –
http://www.mfwars.com/2015/04/wargaming-wednesday-combat-experience.html
All the best,
Mark CMG
CreativeMountainGames.com
Mark CMG Got it, thanks Mark.�� I agree that most RPGs don’t really focus on large-scalle combat, but rather on a scale that is conducive specifically to the party members.�� Usually any rules for large-scale combat are an afterthought by developers.�� They are rarely built into the product from Day 1.
@Samuel Van Der Wall So I wrote two more articles on this theme… some easy-to-use hazards for combat��http://worldbuilderblog.me/2015/04/14/simple-hazards and a different way of using a battlemat��http://worldbuilderblog.me/2015/04/23/flip-the-mat/
JamesIntrocaso I think that makes you the official post leader so far then, James!�� Great additions.
Samuel Van Der Wall��I play to win. Thank you for hosting!
Hi Sam,
I have posted a contribution at Tales of a GM about narrative combat:
http://talesofagm.com/?p=2168
As this is the style of game, and thus combat, that I run, I felt this was the best way to contribute to your great choice of topic.
Thanks for hosting.
Phil
Twitter: samvdw
says:
@ Phil – I like it. Our group is more narrative based with combat as well, mainly because our GM is great at running it that way.
Samuel Van Der Wall recently posted…The Combat Experience – Ideas to Make Combat Fun
Just replaced the old post with a new one. You can find it at:
http://mythus.mythusmage.info/archives/32
No, I don’t follow doctrine where RPGs are concerned.
Twitter: samvdw
says:
@ Mythus – Thanks for the article! Seems like you have some pretty strong opinions on the subject!
Samuel Van Der Wall recently posted…The Combat Experience – Ideas to Make Combat Fun
Twitter: GeneralTangent
says:
Thanks for an interesting topic and hosting this month.
Sorry for being late to this months carnival, looks like I bit off more than I could chew this month
General_Tangent recently posted…30 Day D&D Challenge – Day 6
Twitter: samvdw
says:
@ General – I added your submission to the roundup. I hear you about the “bit off more than I could chew” part… I’m right there with you.
Samuel Van Der Wall recently posted…RPG Blog Carnival April 2015 – Roundup